Don't Be A Dinosaur In Dancing


by Rodney Aquino - Date: 2007-02-10 - Word Count: 875 Share This!

Whether you like it or not, life goes on. Like it or not, things change. The kind of music and the kind of band you listen to will change. Your friends will change. Your love ones will change. Technology changes! Who would have thought we would have something called the Internet. And did I mention myspace and youtube already?

In the competition arena, reinvention also applies. Competitors constantly innovate to gain an edge against their competitors. Look at athletes right now! They discover different kinds of training methods and techniques (They now hire Psychologists for mental edge). Even when athletes get old, they reinvent themselves as things and life evolves.

Tiger Woods was unstoppable in the 90's to the year 2000. There were no other golfers who could touch him. In 2001, he changed the way he played his game and started losing for two years in a row. When the late Ed Bradley (60 Minutes) asked him as to why he changed his game and how he handled losing games for two years, he said, "I was reinventing myself and worked on a new strategy, better strategy. I remember people talking then that it was over for me. They had no idea that I was reinventing myself to be better than before."

On an article published by Evening Standard (London), a reporter asked him the same question, he responded, "I've been criticized for the last couple of years. Why would you change your game? Well, this is why. First, second and first in my last three Majors (he's been winning like crazy in 2005 to present). That's why."

It is the same way in the business of dancing, competition and performance. If you don't change your game and reinvent yourself, others will catch up to you. And if you are complacent and don't do anything about it, you'd get older and you'd be left behind.

I remember when I interviewed Aisha, Frankie Martinez's (Abakua Dance Company)former dance partner. She mentioned how Frankie constantly changed his hairstyle and his outfits because a lot of people started imitating him. Again, it's the same concept of reinvention. He is now reinventing his dancing to a theater material.

Getting back to getting older, a lot of professional salseros (mostly salseras) give up their profession and stop honing their craft thinking that it's over for them. They think that getting old, as a salsera, is a curse. Nothing could be further from the truth! You can hone your craft from a different angle and still kick ass!

Josie Neglia (Los Angeles) is still kicking ass after all these years. She is not performing anymore but she is still alive and kicking in the scene. How about Alex Da Silva? He performs the same routine every time on stage but always present a new twist to it. As a result, he still kick ass!

DJ Tony O (San Francisco) constantly keeps up with the latest trend of Latin Music. As a result, he is still the DJ with most gigs in the Bay Area. DJ Fab Freddy (San Francisco) does it differently than Tony O, he keeps finding old/classic tunes from modern artists with different interpretations. It works; hardcore salseros love his spins! Again, constantly reinventing.

I get criticized for the constant change of Salsagang.com. But I really hate complacency, and as the founder, it is my job to make sure that constant reinvention happens. Most websites now are pretty much dead with the same format and approach. This won't work forever.

You may have heard of a bachata wesbite called Rodchata.com already. Stay tune because the website will kick ass. It is another angle of my reinvention. You may have also heard that I'm back to school…hey, I already told you I hate being complacent.

In our world as dancers, whether you are salsa musician, social dancer, competitor, DJ, instructor, dance director, promoter and even a website owner, evolution happens! And so like it or not, you have to constantly reinvent yourself, reinvent your product, otherwise you'd be like that mouse in the Who Moved My Cheese story, you become cynical, whiner, pitiful, depressed, and as a result, suffers a slow death.

Reinvention also holds true for every products of any kinds of business whether they be furniture, cars and even food. What about fashion? Ha! Don't even get me started. Fashion models standard has to look like a walking stick nowadays!

Don't be left behind. Do something.

"Where do you want to be five years from now?" (We all hate that question, don't we?)

Having been there, I must tell you that reinvention is a painful process. Growth is a painful process. I already shared the story of Tiger Woods earlier. Some of you that have known me know the stories of Salsagang.com. Cynics and critics will arise during your reinvention process. Ignore them. Do not let negativity from other people (incuding your friends) control your future. Don't ever give in; it's their issue and not yours.

"Sometimes you have to tear everything down in order to build up."

If your reinvention plans fail, try it on a different angle. If you fail again, try again until you die. I'd rather die trying than die giving up. Don't be extinct. Don't be antiquated! Don't be a past. Be a future! Don't be a dinosaur!


Related Tags: salsa, bachata, salsa dance, bachata dance, learning to dance

Founder of www.Salsagang.com and bachata website called www.Rodchata.com. He had been dancing Latin dance for 10 years. He holds a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology, a certified Personal Fitness Trainer and holds 4th Degree Black Belt in the Martial Arts.

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